


Our Kingdom Won't Fall

by DianaandAlicia



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Kingdom, But unlike Romeo and Juliet nobody dies and there will be a happy ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Prince Nick, Servant Troy, This is kind of like a star crossed lovers thing, tw child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-01-01 05:13:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18329324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: In one year, Prince Nicholas of the Clark Kingdom will be coronated as king. There's one problem though. He doesn't really want to be king. He knows that it's his duty to serve his kingdom, but there's a longing inside of him that sets his sights on something, or someone else.Someone like the servant and stable boy, Troy Otto





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Y'all! This is an idea that I've got floating around in my head right now. I just wanted you to know that because of school, work and life, updates for this will probably be a bit slow, at least until my school is done for summer. I hope you like it!

Once upon a time, there was a powerful kingdom ruled by a very powerful family. The king and queen had children, like a lot of couples do, and they were blessed to have a son, Prince Nicholas, and a daughter, Princess Alicia. As the children grew up, they saw their father rule with authority, yet be kind and fair and gracious while doing it.  

Tragically, when Prince Nicholas was sixteen and Princess Alicia was twelve, King Steven died suddenly, leaving his wife, Queen Madison, to rule the country until Nick was old enough to fill the role to rule. Four years have passed and Nick has one year until his coronation. Queen Madison is spending every moment that she can to help Nick prepare for the life that being a king requires.  

Nick however, doesn’t really want to be king. He has his eye on something, or someone else, that is. Someone he knows his mother wouldn’t approve of him loving. A servant boy who’s worked in the castle for almost a decade. 

And that servant boy happens to be none other than Troy Otto. 

 

 


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all! Since I posted that the updates for this will be slower, I've decided to post both the prologue and chapter one on the same day! I hope you like this chapter!
> 
> (Oh and also, I have a really bad cold right now and am on a bunch of medicine so if there are spelling or grammar mistakes, I'll fix them when my mind is a bit more clear).

Prince Nicholas sat quietly in the dining room, eating breakfast and looking over a royal proposal that his mother was planning on passing the following week. He was on the last page when his sister, Princess Alicia walked in, her nanny Althea not far behind. 

“Good morning Nick.” 

“Good morning Alicia, Althea.” 

“Good morning Your Highness.” Althea responded, nodding her head respectfully at the prince.  

Alicia sat down at the table and once she was settled, Althea left to do some of her work while Alicia ate. As a maid placed a plate in front of Alicia, the princess looked at her brother with curiosity. 

“What are you reading?” 

“The proposal that Mother wants to pass next week. It’s that modified trade agreement with the Strand and Salazar kingdoms. The old agreement that Father had passed when he was king will be expiring at the end of the month, so Mother decided that it’d be best to rewrite and tweak areas that needed it, instead of renewing the old one word by word.” 

“But why are you reading it? You’re not king. Yet.” 

“In two weeks, it’ll be a year exactly to my coronation. Mother said that within this year, I’ll need to train and work, take on more duties and do more things to prepare for the role. Looking over royal documents like this is one of the many things I’ll have to do as king Alicia.” 

“I wish Mother would let me look at documents too.” Alicia huffed, jealous that Nick was allowed to do all the interesting stuff. 

Nick didn’t respond, since he knew Madison was a sore subject for Alicia, and decided to change the subject. 

“So, what do you have planned today?” 

“Well, I have morning classes with my tutor, then lunch, then two hours of lessons, then I have my hour with Mother, and then supper. Another boring day.” 

“Well look at the bright side, you only have a year and a half until you are done with your schooling. It’ll be over before you know it.” He said gently, smiling at his little sister. Though he couldn’t truly understand how Alicia felt due to lack of experience, he was sympathetic that she was bored. Because he was the eldest child, and the son, his fate was known from the day he was born. All throughout his life, Nick knew that eventually, he’d be king.  

Alicia however, was a different story. She is a princess, and that means she of course will live a life of luxury, but unless Nick passed away without any heirs to the throne, she will never herself be queen. If their parents had had more children after Alicia, and if those children would have been sons, she would have been pushed further down the line of succession. Luckily, Madison and Steven didn’t have any more children after the princess was born and she stayed in the place that she was in. 

After Alicia’s schooling would be finished, she has to devote her life to a cause that means well to her, and make that her life’s project. She would never be able to be involved in the politics of the country, since that will be Nick’s place, and if she chooses to marry and start a family, she will have to focus on that. Despite not going through it himself, Nick can see how that while a life like that can be easy, it can also be rather boring. 

“Nick?”  

“Yes?” 

“Don’t tell, but the only part I think I’ll miss about school is that while I’m at my lessons, I get to spend more time with Althea then with Mother. Once I’m done with schooling and once you’re king, Mother will be watching me like a hawk the rest of my life.” Alicia whispered, looking around while saying it. 

“Alicia, I never want to hear you say that again. You remember what happened the last time you did that, don’t you?” Both siblings were startled when they saw that Althea had entered the room and had heard what the young princess said. 

"Yes Althea. I’m sorry.” Alicia said quietly, finishing her breakfast. 

“You’re just lucky that it was me who heard you and not the queen.” Althea said sternly, taking Alicia’s empty plate to the kitchen. “Go start your lessons. I’ll be up in a moment.” 

“Yes Althea. See you later Nick.” 

“Yeah. See ya.” He responded, feeling pity for his sister. 

To say that Alicia had a poor relationship with their mother was an understatement. After Alicia was born, Althea, who was nineteen at the time, was hired to be a nanny for the new princess. Since the new baby had someone taking care of her, Madison essentially ignored her daughter, except for when spending time with Alicia would be for her benefit. 

Althea raised Alicia, doing all of the hard work that came with taking care of her. Althea was the one who fed her, changed her diapers, played with her, put her to sleep, potty trained her, and basically taught her everything that she knows. She provided comfort and love when the queen didn’t and it’s common knowledge in the household that Alicia thinks of Althea as her mother, instead of Madison. All Madison did was pretend to be a good mother to the princess when they were at public engagements. 

The incident that Althea had been referring to earlier happened ten years prior, when a six-year-old Alicia loudly proclaimed in the dining hall that Althea was her “real Mommy” and not Madison. The queen obviously didn’t like that one bit and Nick still grimaces when he remembers how severely the princess was punished for her words. 

To top it all off, after that day, whenever Alicia would misbehave or not act as how Madison would like, the queen would just threaten to fire Althea, and forbid Alicia from having any contact with her. Since Alicia wasn’t allowed outside the palace, Althea was her only friend, with the exception of Princess Ofelia from the Salazar kingdom, and Princess Diana, who was King Victor’s niece, from the Strand Kingdom. 

After both Alicia and Althea were gone from the dining room, Nick set the document he was reading to the side and finished his breakfast. He was eating a little bit slower than usual, but like Alicia, he wanted to postpone his time with his mother. 

After breakfast, he was supposed to meet his mother in the meeting room to discuss how he felt about the revised trade agreement. Then he would be stuck in a meeting with his mother, the royal advisors, and the kingdom council. 

After the meeting, King Daniel and King Victor would come to the castle for lunch, with a meeting to discuss the trade agreement after the meal. To say that it was going to be a long day would be an understatement. 

While Nick finished his breakfast, he looked out the window to the vast palace grounds, smiling when he saw one of the stable hands, Troy Otto, brushing Alicia’s horse, Starlight. 

Troy was one of Nick’s friends growing up, and the young prince had fond memories of riding along the trails in the woods behind the palace with him in the summers, and Troy tagging along with Nick, King Steven, and the late king’s friends to go hunting in the fall. 

As they got older, Madison started to restrict how much time Nick spent with Troy, saying that he will be the future king, and he can’t waste his time with Troy when there are lessons that need to be learned, things that needed to be done. This restriction tightened to the equivalent of a chokehold after King Steven died and Nick’s claim to the throne was going to happen sooner rather than later. 

The biggest reason that Madison didn’t like Nick spending time with Troy was because she felt that as future king, it wouldn’t do the kingdom any good if the citizens found out that their ruler’s best friend was a stable hand and servant boy. The queen had an image to protect after all. 

Now that’s he’s twenty and has only a year until his coronation, Nick barely has any time to go horseback riding, go hunting, or be outside for that matter, at all. The young prince feels that the time that he used to spend with Troy has dwindled so much, that Troy could have left the palace and went to work somewhere else, and he wouldn’t have even noticed. 

Nick thought it was unfair of course, but his mother was the queen, and he had to obey the queen. He sat at his spot and watched Troy finish with Starlight before the stable hand guided the horse back to the where her stall is located. Once Troy was out of view, Nick quickly pressed the buzzer on the wall to alert the kitchen staff that he was finished with his dishes, and he got up, grabbing his documents and sneaking out to the stable. 

He had a friend to visit, and it wouldn’t hurt the queen to wait a few minutes...... 

…..Would it? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll see y'all soon.


	3. NOT A CHAPTER

Hi y'all! Um to be honest, I think I started this story at the wrong time. I started it and then stopped for over a month because of school, and now coming back to it, I have no inspiration. I'm not going to delete this story, and I'm not abandoning it, but updates will be super slow with this one, but once I get inspiration to write a new chapter, I'll update. I just wanted y'all to know because I have a new idea for a story so once I start posting that, I don't want anyone to think I've abandoned this one.


	4. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Troy have a talk in the stable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Y'all! Here's Chapter two! I hope you like it! (CW/TW Child abuse in this chapter)

As Nick walked to the stable, he saw that he arrived just in time. Troy was busy giving Starlight food and Nick hadn’t missed his friend. 

“Hi Troy.” The prince stammered. A blush rose on his face all of a sudden. Why was it so hard to talk to Troy? 

“Hey Nicky. Long time no  see .”  

“Yeah.” Was all Nick replied, finding it hard to know what to say. He had no idea why he felt so nervous around Troy all of a sudden. He and Troy have known each other since they were kids, they’ve been friends for years and now Nick can’t even have a normal conversation without feeling flustered.

“Whatcha got there?” Troy asked, nodding his head toward the trade agreement that Nick held in his hands.

“Oh this? It’s just a trade agreement that Mother drafted. She wanted me to look it over.”

Troy smirked and chuckled under his breath.

“What?”

“Your coronation is a year away, and your mother is already making you do king stuff.”

“Well, she says I need the practice. I won’t be a good king if I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I suppose so.” Troy quickly agreed, his voice a bit stiff. To Nick, it sounded like his agreement in the subject was forced, and he really didn’t agree with what Nick said.

“What’s wrong Troy?”

“Nothing Nicky. It’s just, I miss spending time with you. I barely see you anymore. We haven’t gone riding in months.”

“I know but-“

“And Ares hasn’t seen you in so long, I bet he wouldn’t even recognize you anymore.” Troy finished, causing Nick to wince. Ares was his horse and Troy’s statement was true. He’s been so busy, it’s been almost three months since the last time he rode, or even checked on, his horse.

“How about we go riding tomorrow morning, just you and me? That can give us a chance to catch up and I can give Ares some much deserved attention?”

“Would your mother like that?” Troy asked, dryly. It wasn’t news to Nick that Troy had a dislike toward the queen. Ever since Troy was a young boy, he never took a liking to Madison and her “I’m better than everyone” attitude.

“Mother doesn’t have to know. As of right now, there is nothing planned for tomorrow morning and since I no longer have lessons like Alicia, I can do what I want.”

“Ok. I’d like that.” Troy said, putting a new bag of oats in Starlight’s stall.

“I don’t know a bunch about horses, but isn’t that too much food? I mean, Starlight looks a bit stout.”

Troy laughed again and gave Nick a smile.

“ Of course she’s stout. She’s pregnant Nick.”

“What? Really?”

“Yep. It won’t be awhile until the new foal is here, but it’s exciting. This will be the first foal of next year.”

“Does Alicia know?”

“Not yet. Your poor sister hasn’t seen Starlight in almost a month. Hasn’t she told you?”

“Told me what?”

“Last month, Alicia came out to ride Starlight and your mother followed her out here and told her that she wasn’t allowed to ride her horse anymore. Said something about how riding astride a horse while her skirts blow up in the breeze and showing more than her stocking covered ankle is unseemly for a young lady.”

Nick gave Troy a look of disgust. 

“Yeah, I know.” Troy agreed, upon seeing Nick’s expression. “Your mother said that the only way Alicia could ride is if she used a side saddle, and that put an end to the conversation.”

“Alicia can’t ride side saddle. Mother knows that.” Nick responded, knowing that was exactly why the queen made it a rule. When Alicia was a little girl, about ten years old, her first horse, Clover, threw her and she hurt her hip. After she recovered, she tried riding side saddle but the position was too uncomfortable for her.

“Would you mind if I invited Alicia to ride with us tomorrow?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Nick. Alicia has had an aversion to this stable since she and your mother had that talk. Plus, after what your mother threatened, I don’t think she’d accept the invitation.”

“What do you mean? She threatened her?”

“Yeah. I was in one of the back stalls cleaning so they didn’t know I was here in the stable, but after forbidding Alicia from riding, your mother said that if she even caught your sister in the stable, she’d……” Troy then trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

“She’d what? What did she say Troy?”

“Your mother is very cruel, especially towards Alicia.”

“What did she say?”

“She told Alicia that if she even stepped foot in the stable, she’d whip her, and then fire Althea, and finish off with selling Starlight. Like I said, your mother is cruel.”

Nick shook his head in utter disgust at his mother’s words. Her abuse towards his sister  was unforgivable.

“I think you should go meet your mother before she comes looking for you.” Troy said, his words breaking up Nick’s thoughts.

“Yeah, I might as well. I’ll see you tomorrow morning after breakfast. Sound good?”

“Yeah. See you then.” Troy said, before turning and grabbing the pitchfork to start cleaning out some of the stalls.

Nick quickly walked back to the massive mansion that the family lived in and went up to Madison’s office. Upon her permission, he went in, ready to discuss the trade agreement with her.

———————————————————————————————————————

Later, after King Daniel and King Victor returned to their respective kingdoms, and after supper, Madison retired to her private suite for the rest of the night, allowing Nick to go talk to his sister.

He went to Alicia’s room and saw his sister getting ready for bed.

“Hey Alicia?” He asked as he knocked on the door.

“Yeah?” She asked, looking back toward the door. She was sitting at her dressing table in her nightgown, brushing and braiding her hair.

“May I come in? There are some things I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Yeah, sure. Shut the door behind you.”

Nick did as  told and sat down in  Althea’s old rocking chair.

“What’s up?”

“This morning I went down to the stable and Troy told me that Starlight will be having a foal next year.”

“Really?” Alicia asked, excitement building up.

“Yeah. He said that you didn’t know because you haven’t been down to the stable in over a month. He also said that Mother won’t let you ride.”

“Yeah, Mother thinks that it’s unladylike to ride astride a horse at my age. And I can’t ride the side saddle, no matter what side it’s on so I have to stay away from the stable.”

“Troy told me that Mother threatened to whip you, and that she’d fire Althea and sell Starlight if you even stepped foot near the stable. Is this true?”

“Yeah. That’s true. If it was just Mother threatening to hit me, I’d risk it. Mother’s whipped me many times before for smaller things, but with Althea’s job on the line and Starlight possibly being sold, I just can’t risk it this time.” 

“I understand.” Nick said. If he was in Alicia’s position, he’d do the same thing.

“So, how was the trade agreement meeting?” The princess asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Honestly? It was really boring. Listening to Mother discuss everything with the council and then King Victor and King Daniel, was tedious.”

“Isn’t that what being a king is all about though, to come up with stuff that helps the people?”

“Yeah, but as rewarding as it is, helping the people, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s really boring.”

Alicia giggled and brought her hand up to brush a stray hair from face and Nick immediately grew concerned when he saw an ugly bruise on the back of her hand.

“What the hell happened to your hand Alicia?” He asked, immediately getting up and going over to his sister. He took both of her hands in his and inspected them, seeing bruises on both.

“Mother happened.” Was all Alicia said.

“What did she do to you?”

“Let’s just say, during our parlor hour together, I couldn’t concentrate and Mother didn’t like the stitching mistakes in my embroidery.”

“I’m so sorry Alicia. I really am.”

“It’s ok Nick. Compared to what she’s done before, this is nothing.”

“This isn’t nothing Alicia. Mother shouldn’t be allowed to mistreat you like this. You deserve better, and never let yourself think otherwise.”

Alicia was silent at that so Nick continued.

“Once I become King, I’ll make sure she can never hurt you again.”

“But that’s a little more than a year from now Nick, she will hurt me multiple times before then because nothing I do pleases her. She always finds something imperfect about me to fixate on.”

“I’m so sorry Alicia.”

“It’s fine Nick. I’m used to it.”

That sentence just about broke Nick’s heart. Seeing that the topic upset him, Alicia decided to change the subject again.

“So you went out to talk to Troy? It’s been a while since you’ve hung out with him.”

“Yeah. I’ve been so busy with all this king stuff, and you know that Mother only tolerated our friendship when we were kids. Now that Troy and I are adults, it’s all about protecting our family’s image. Mother thinks it’s bad for our image if we are friends with people below our social status.”

“But what do you think?”

“I think that if we as the royal family took time to go out beyond our palace walls and met with the citizens of our kingdom and actually get to know them, or even befriend some of them, we’d be able to see what the issues affecting the majority of our kingdom actually are. Mother thinks that if she and the council makes laws that benefit the wealthy and the nobility below us, then the commoners will eventually receive help from the policies. If they don’t, she’ll argue that they put themselves in their economic positions themselves and they are the only ones to blame.”

“She’ll also say that they don’t deserve help.” Alicia added, having listened to this type of conversation before. “I don’t like Mother’s policies that much. Even though Father’s policies were very similar, if someone would have convinced him to make laws to benefit everyone, he would have at least listened.”

“You’re right Alicia. Mother’s policies only benefit the people who are the most fortunate. I hope that when I’m king, I’ll be able to actually make a difference for the majority of the people. Whether Mother likes to acknowledge them or not, the commoners and peasantry of our kingdom are the most important. Without them, we wouldn’t have food, an army, resources, business, an economy, anything really. Everything we have, we owe to those people, and they deserve the economic stability that we benefit from just because we are born into it.”

Alicia was about to say more, but was interrupted by a knock on her door.

“Come in.”

The door opened to reveal Althea, who had just finished her evening work. The last chore that she had to complete before she could go back to her own room and rest for the night was tucking Alicia into bed. It wasn’t really a chore, and it wasn’t really needed, since Alicia was old enough to tuck herself into bed, but Althea still did it as a tradition. She wanted Alicia’s last thoughts and feelings of the night to be ones of safety and security, and she was going to do whatever it takes to allow that to happen.

“Alicia, it’s time to settle down for bed now.” She said as she went over to Alicia’s bed to pull back the covers.

“Yes Ma’am. Good night Nick.” Alicia said, turning to her brother.

“Goodnight ‘Licia.”

After Nick left Alicia’s bedroom, he went to his own and saw Gertrude, one of the housemaids, leaving.

“Your Highness, I got everything in your room ready for tonight, as you requested, your riding clothes are hanging on the hook of your wardrobe for after breakfast, and your riding boots are on the little shelf below them. Will you require anything else tonight?”

“Um, tomorrow morning I’d like to eat breakfast up here in my room, at the usual time. Other than that, I don’t need anything else tonight.”

“ Yes, your Highness, have a nice night.”

“You too.” Nick said, before going into his bedroom and shutting the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!


End file.
